When it was first published (in 1991), Political Agenda of Education was hailed as an outstanding contribution to educational theory. This thoroughly revised edition sharpens the focus and explanatory range of the original framework. In particular, the author has incorporated the complex terrain of gender and girls` education while bringing in a more nuanced discussion of caste as a factor of equality in educational opportunity. The book is divided into two parts. Part I analyzes the circumstances surrounding the establishment of a colonial system of educational administration and the implications it had for both teaching and curriculum. Part II locates educational reform within the dynamics of the three major quests of the freedom struggle: the demand for equal participation in education by the lower castes; the quest for self-identity; and the idea of progress. Krishna Kumar uses the history of ideas to develop insights which are highly relevant for the challenges facing the system of education in India and the rest of South Asia today.

The author of this work examines India's educational development over the past 150 years in the context of political positions and ideologies. The central argument is that while the colonial and nationalist discourses were intended to convey divergent messages, they used the same vocabulary for important education concepts. The terms of educational discourse that are in current use have sprung from this ambivalent heritage.

The Fifth Edition of Joel Spring’s ongoing documentation and analysis of political agendas for education reflects the major political issues in education since 2008. This edition focuses on the education sections of the 2012 Republican, Democratic, Green, and Libertarian Party platforms. Taking a fresh look at the social and political forces, educational research, and ideologies shaping the educational agendas of these political parties and a comparative approach, the book stimulates reflection and discussion. New coverage in the Fifth Edition includes: • The political coup called Race to the Top • Common Core State Standards and national testing based on the Standards • Explosion of online instruction • Debates about teacher evaluations and merit pay • Growing for-profit education industry • New agenda for American Education: Constitutional amendment; long life and happiness; environmental education Political Agendas for Education is essential reading for courses dealing with the politics of education, foundations of education, educational leadership, and curriculum studies, and for educational scholars, professionals, policymakers, and all those concerned with the politics of education in the U.S. and its consequences for schools and society.

Bringing up-to-date Joel Spring’s ongoing documentation and analysis of political agendas for education in the US, the fourth edition of Political Agendas for Education focuses on the Republican and Democratic parties in the 2008 national election and post-2008 election era, considered within the context of the evolution of the Republican and Democratic education agendas.

Following the epic, contentious 2016 presidential election, Joel Spring’s ongoing documentation and analysis of political agendas for education reflect the major political issues since 2012. Here he examines the 2016 education planks of the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Green Parties, using their official platforms and other statements, speeches given by each candidate, and media reports and publications. Each party’s position is linked to previous political movements in education. Spring offers an alternative agenda for American schools, including a proposed education amendment to the U.S. Constitution and replacing human capital agendas with goals emphasizing education for a long life and happiness. Taking a fresh look at the social and political forces, educational research, and ideologies shaping their educational agendas and a comparative approach, the book stimulates reflection and discussion. Updates and changes in the Sixth Edition: Betsy DeVos’s education agenda supporting vouchers, free market competition and for-profit schools and its relationship to the education section of the 2016 Republican platform The important role religion and culture played in the evolution of Republican education policies after the school prayer and Bible decisions of the 1960s The influence of human capital economics on Democratic education proposals How No Child Left Behind and Democratic President Barack Obama opened doors to the growth of the for-profit education industry and investment bankers The 2016 Democratic positions on the cost of higher education and student loan debts The Democratic left as represented by the 2016 campaign of Democrat Bernie Sanders and his influence on the presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party platform The education proposals of the Green and Libertarian parties

The Fifth Edition of Joel Spring's ongoing documentation and analysis of political agendas for education reflects the major political issues in education since 2008. This edition focuses on the education sections of the 2012 Republican, Democratic, Green, and Libertarian Party platforms. Taking a fresh look at the social and political forces, educational research, and ideologies shaping the educational agendas of these political parties and a comparative approach, the book stimulates reflection and discussion. New coverage in the Fifth Edition includes: * The political coup called Race to the Top * Common Core State Standards and national testing based on the Standards * Explosion of online instruction * Debates about teacher evaluations and merit pay * Growing for-profit education industry * New agenda for American Education: Constitutional amendment; long life and happiness; environmental education Political Agendas for Educationis essential reading for courses dealing with the politics of education, foundations of education, educational leadership, and curriculum studies, and for educational scholars, professionals, policymakers, and all those concerned with the politics of education in the U.S. and its consequences for schools and society.

Manna explores the dynamics of forty years of education policymaking to answer a puzzling question: if state and local governments are the primary caretakers of elementary and secondary education, how have federal policymakers so greatly expanded their involvement in the country's schools since 1965? From Lyndon B. Johnson's signing of the carefully worded funding bill, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to George W. Bush's imposing but underfunded "No Child Left Behind" initiative, Washington's influence over America's schools has increased signficantly. At the same time, the states have developed more comprehensive, and often innovative education policies. A wide array of educational issues has appeared on the political agenda both nationally and at the state level. Manna argues that this is no accident: that national and state leaders have borrowed strength from each other-- strength in terms of both politically viable arguments and of such governmental capacity to act as financing, the existence of regulatory agencies, and professional capability--to develop and enact educational reforms. He shows how our nation's education agenda has taken shape through the interaction of policy entrepreneurs at national and state levels in our federal system of government. Based on Manna's analyses of public laws, presidential speeches, congressional testimony, public opinion, political advertising, and personal interviews, this book draws on concepts of federalism and agenda-setting to offer an original view of the growing federal role in education policy.